Fragments of Change
by wordlessone
Summary: Some unconventional students come to Horizon. This sotry is just told in fragments and not neccisarily in order.
1. Food

Two girls, twins by the look of it, sat by on the dock by the lake, their legs dangling over the side. They had been at Horizon for about two weeks and it hadn't been an easy transition for either them or the people who worked there. They were different, thought differently, acted differently, but the thing that bothered Peter and Sophie the most is that they were sure their new students were wrong.

"They have to follow the rules Soph, just like everyone else." Peter said as he looked out the window of his office at the two girls.

"I know Peter. Rules are important. I am just starting to wonder if we shouldn't change some of the rules." Sophie responded. Peter sighed, moving away from the window to sit in the chair by his desk.

"They might be, but that is a big thing to ask. If we start changing some of the rules who knows what would happen. All the students would want the rules changed. They'd go wild with it." Peter admitted.

"I am not even sure those two belong here." Sophie stated. Peter picked up the file folders on his desk and went through them. Tara and Tracy, the new students. Tara was somewhere between a prep, a jock, and your average teen and Tracy was goth. Their files were both thick, full of accusations and diagnoses.

"I am not sure these files are completely accurate, but that doesn't mean they don't belong here." Peter explained. "Tracy definitely has anger issues, we've seen that ourselves."

"But that's not even something she was placed here for!" Sophie said exasperated.

"Exactly. I think they will get sent somewhere no matter what. It might be better that they are here, not every place cares as much at Horizon and they might not even notice that the files might be wrong." Peter explained, looking thoughtful. Sophie frowned.

"I guess you're right. There are worse places they could end up, but we have to do something. If things keep going as they have been it won't be good for any of us." Sophie commented. Peter pulled up two blank pages on his computer, typing the names of each of them at the top.

"Okay, so I am going to start a new file, just on what we've seen. So what do we know about them?" Peter asked.

"Well, like you said, Tracy has anger issues." Sophie stated. Peter typed that under her name. He thought for a moment.

"They are incredibly close. They stand up for each other, even when they don't agree." Peter said, typing. Sophie nodded.

"I think Tracy may be depressed. She puts on a good show, but I have been able to see through it at times. She does self harm after all." Sophie added. Peter typed that down.

"I think Tara might be the leader of the two. She is much more outgoing and assertive then her sister." Peter said typing it down. He sighed, saving the documents and putting them aside for the moment. He picked up the file folders again looking through them even more carefully this time.

"I don't know what we are going to do about the food thing." Peter said, his voice incredibly serious.

"Well, they have made it clear they won't eat anything animal no matter how hungry they get." Sophie said.

"I know and I am worried about that. They aren't eating much because Horizon isn't equipped to feed them vegan meals. They have just been eating fruit and the occasional side salad we have since they've been here. They both came out healthy on their physicals from when they were admitted, but if that is all they eat it won't stay that way." He looked at the medical files again. "They are healthier than most of the other students who are admitted."

"Maybe if we talked to them about their health." Sophie suggested. Peter sighed.

"I got the feeling they don't care about that. It is an ethical thing for them Soph. They were vegan and healthy all this time, but I think they will stay vegan even if their health fails. If it does it will be on us. They proven it can be done in a way that is healthy and we are depriving them of that." Peter explained.

"So what do we do?" Sophie asked.

"There could be a lawsuit, but I highly doubt their parents would care enough to even notice. I will have to move some things around, but we need to make at least a few more meals or at least parts of meals vegan friendly. It is the only way I can see it being done." Peter decided. He stood up and looked out the window again. The girls had moved from the dock and were now animately talking as the walked around campus.

"It is hard to believe they aren't even sisters." Peter commented.

"I know. What are the odds of a family adopting a girl who looks so similar to their birth daughter? They could be twins." Sophie agreed.

"June 12 and June 15, their birthdays are so close." Peter said looking again at their files. The DNA was different on each girl too. They were as close as twins and as far as Peter and Sophie were concerned they were twins, all the rest of it didn't matter at all. 


	2. Tara's Admit

Peter had done Tara's admit, while Sophie was doing Tracy's. Tracy seemed to be more at ease around Sophie he had notice right away, so he had split them up the way that made the most sense. Tara had been direct in her answers. She didn't seem intimated at all by the situation or her new surroundings.

After talking to her, Peter wasn't sure why she had been sent there. There were reasons in her file, but she seemed like an average teenager. As far as he could tell she was well adjusted, not unsocial, and didn't do drugs. He knew the student's problems were always obvious during the admit, but they often were. It crossed his mind that maybe she had just been sent to Horizon because her sister had been.

He noticed that the birth dates had been different earlier, but had thought it was a typo. He wanted to know which one was right though, June 12 or June 15. When he asked he got a surprising answer. Tara's birthday was June 15, Tracy's was June 12. They weren't twins. He was unable to keep the shock out of his face and voice. Tara seemed to find this a bit amusing. That's when she told him that they weren't biological sisters. She had been adopted. Yes, they looked similar; yes, they looked like twins; yes, they had similar names; yes, they got that question and shocked look all the time. It occurred to Peter she might be lying so he made a note to find out more information from their files later.

Tara hadn't been happy with having to take a physical, commenting she thought it was a stupid rule. She did begrudgingly let the doctor examine her though. As Peter left before the physical took place, he heard a commotion going on in the infirmary across the hall. He quickly went over only to find Tracy had freaked out. Sophie said something to the effect of having the situation under control, so he left but stayed in the hall in case he was needed. He would need to be there when Tara came out from her physical anyway.

Peter suddenly realized it would be better if Tara wasn't aware of what was going on with Tracy. He hadn't seen much of how they related with each other yet, but he didn't want Tara added to the mix to cause more chaos. He managed to rush her by without her realizing what was going on and gave her a tour of the place.

It was only after that Tara had wondered why Tracy's admit was taking so long. Peter had left her in the cliffhanger girl's cabin to get settled in and she waited a while before she started to get worried. Some girl's walked in talking about a new girl who was smashing up the place and Tara took off to find her sister. She wasn't able to for a while. Tracy had already quieted down and didn't appear again until it was time for group. 


	3. Tracy's Admit

Sophie was in her office later that night, drinking coffee and thinking about Tracy's admit. She had taken care of it and Peter admitted Tara. For the most part Tracy had seemed fine. A little shy, but in a way that almost seemed she had given up with her mind even if her actions and words didn't show it. The questions she had answered she had seemed to answer truthfully, though there were some questions she refused to answer.

There seemed to be many unsaid things in that first meeting. Not just the unanswered questions, but something more. As if she wanted to say something or like maybe there was more to the story. She didn't push though. Admits were simply that as there was always plenty of time later to learn more.

The requirement for each student to have a physical before entering the school was where things had gone wrong. Tracy seemed to have a real aversion to doctors. As she reflected on it she thought it might have had something to do with her self harming, but she was sure on that. It seemed like something more. It was actually unsure if the girl did self harm at first. She had bruises and other marks on her from harsh treatment at mental health facilities she had been at before coming to Horizon.

Sophie had actually been relieved when she found out that the various cuts and scars had been self harm, fearing at first that all of it had been done to her. She had managed to convince Tracy to be examined and she had put up with it until it was time for the blood sample. Tracy had been dead set against it. The doctor made a joke about being scared of needles, but Sophie knew that wasn't it. Between the self inflicted cuts and the medication that her files had mentioned were forcibly injected into her, she knew it had to be something more to it. This girl wasn't scared of physical pain, she couldn't be.

When it was obvious Tracy was not going to let her blood be drawn, Sophie had called in force to be used. It was procedure. They couldn't admit her to Horizon without blood work. It was a safety issue as well. Tracy had went crazy when they tried to hold her down for her blood to be taken. Kicking, scratching, biting, anything she could think of. Even after it was done she was angry. She had almost destroyed the infirmary. It had taken a long time before the girl's anger had run out. The stamina she held was amazing. This wasn't a sudden burst to go away, but a long rampage.

Yet she knew it was because physical force had been used. She doubted that Tracy would have acted the same way otherwise. She had been obstinate and refusing, but not at all violent or even showing much anger until that point. She sipped her coffee, looking at Tracy's file. She knew the contents weren't the whole story, no student's file ever was.

Sophie could tell from what was in their though that Tracy had a hard life, she just wasn't sure how hard yet. Peter's right, she does belong here, she thought. Not for most of the reasons listed, but for other reasons. Did these people who wrote all things in here even know the girl at all? Had they even bothered to look? She wondered. 


	4. Skipping School

Tara and Tracy had went to classes the first week at Horizon. They wanted to see what the classes were about, how they were ran, to meet the teachers, and to learn more about the other students. After that they only went to class sometimes. At first it was a class here or there and then they spent more time skipping classes than going to them. They didn't like the uniformity of the classes and occasionally they disagreed with what was being taught.

Tara and Tracy had went to classes the first week at Horizon. They wanted to see what the classes were about, how they were ran, to meet the teachers, and to learn more about the other students. After that they only went to class sometimes. At first it was a class here or there and then they spent more time skipping classes than going to them. They didn't like the uniformity of the classes and occasionally they disagreed with what was being taught.

When this came to Peter and Sophie's attention they knew they needed to do something about it right away. It was Sophie who seen them first the next time they skipped a class. It was math class they were supposed to be in but instead they were headed towards the woods side by side. Sophie ran after them to catch up.

"Whoa, you two are supposed to be in class right now." Sophie said, her voice accusing. She wasn't sure what class they were supposed to be in exactly, but she knew all the Cliffhangers had classes at that moment. They looked at each other for a split second before continuing on as if they hadn't heard or noticed her. It was subtle but Sophie seen it.

"I know you two heard me." She said authoritatively. They continued walking, not missing a beat, still as if they hadn't. She walked in front of them and stopped, blocking their way. They stopped as there was nothing else they could see to do. They could make a run for it maybe, but it was Horizon and they knew they weren't going anywhere; at least not without a plan. Sophie waited a few moments for them to say something, but they didn't so she broke the silence.

"You are supposed to be in class." She told them. Tracy sighed.

"Because of the rules?" Tracy said sounding something between sad and annoyed. It hadn't really sounded much like a question as she said it.

"Yes." Sophie answered. She knew they knew that, but she couldn't think of what else to say. It seemed she never knew what these two were thinking or what they would say next.

"Why?" Tara asked.

"Because those are the rules." Sophie stated, a moment later wanting to take the sentence back. She knew she would get no where with these two using that sort of logic.

"Uh huh." Tara said. She wanted to walk right past Sophie, but she stayed where she was. Tracy sighed again.

"Look it's just...there doesn't seem to be a point to it." Tracy said truthfully. Sophie gave her a hard stare. Tara tugged a Tracy's hand, wanting them just to ignore Sophie and keep walking.

"We just sit in desks or at tables and it doesn't seem like we are learning anything useful. It just seems like a waste of time. Life is short. It can end any time. For all we know we could die before graduation or maybe even before tomorrow from some unseen event. When you think about it...well I don't want to waste my time. We don't want to waste our time. We want to live. Fully." Tracy tried explaining.

Sophie was dumbstruck at first. It wasn't as if this was the first time she had heard an excuse not to go to class or the first time she had heard life is short as the excuse, but Tracy really seemed to have thought about this a lot. She knew she had to make them go to class regardless, but it was obvious the girl was a deep thinker. If I could just get her to put it to some use, she thought. A twinge in the back of her mind wondered if it already was being put to good use, just not necessarily normal use. She needed to make these two follow the rules. The rest of it could be thought about later, she realized.

"If you two don't go to class right now, you'll have kitchen duty for a week." Sophie threatened. Tara seemed ready to stomp off, but Tracy stopped her with a light hand on her wrist.

"Let's just go for now." She whispered. Tara was annoyed. So what if Sophie gave them kitchen duty, they could just refuse to do it. She knew her sister must know that too though so maybe there was another reason. Fine, she'd go along for now, but she wasn't happy about it.

"Fine." Tara said under her breath, verily audible. Tracy and Tara headed towards class, with Sophie following a little ways away to make sure they got there. After she seen them go through the door, she left. She'd need to deal with them later after she talked to Peter. She had a feeling this was only a temporary solution. 


End file.
